How to Make a Sea Ecosystem

Since fish come from hundreds of different environments, the aquarist must make sure to take each of their needs into account. Basically, this means recreating the fish's natural ecosystem. An ecosystem is a self-sustaining biological environment where all forms of life are connected and affect each other. Recreating a saltwater ecosystem might prove a little harder than setting up a freshwater tank, but it is by no means impossible.

Things You'll Need

  • Gravel
  • Aquarium
  • Undergravel heater.
  • Decorations
  • Live rock
  • PH test kit
  • PH adjuster
  • Ammonia test kit
  • Ammonia adjuster
  • Dechlorinator
  • Fish food
  • Nitrate test kit
  • Marine salt mix
  • Stirring stick
  • Marine plants
  • Aquarium plant food
  • Grow light
  • Aquarium timer
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Instructions

    • 1

      Pour aquarium gravel or sand into your aquarium. The larger the aquarium the better and more stable your ocean environment will be. Add an undergravel heater if you plan on keeping tropical fish. Push it under the gravel and mound gravel on top of it. Add decorations like live rocks to help dispose of waste in your tank and maintain a realistic ocean ecosystem.

    • 2

      Hang an aquarium filter to the back of the tank and add a thermometer beside it. Use a filter that has chemical, mechanical and biological filtering material inside it. Make sure that it is adequate for your tank size.

    • 3

      Fill the tank with tap water. Treat the water with dechlorinator. The chlorine added to tap water is hazardous to fish and aquatic plants. Some towns use chloramines instead so it's best to get a bottle that takes care of them both.

    • 4

      Adjust the PH of the water using either a PH booster or PH dampener. Ocean fish like an alkaline PH of around 8.2.

    • 5

      Add a marine salt mix to the aquarium water. Follow the directions on the packaging for the correct ratio, as it depends on the brand. Stir the water until the salt dissolves.

    • 6

      Plug in your filter and heater and throw in some fish food. Do this every day and take a measure of the nitrate levels. This is known as 'cycling' the tank and can take six to eight weeks to achieve. Nitrates and the ammonia that results from this prove toxic to fish, so you need to build up beneficial bacteria adding food to degrade waste and feed bacteria. Keep your tank at between 75F and 85F, depending on what fish you plan on putting in your tank.

    • 7

      Add marine plants and then add some aquarium plant food to the water using the ratios suggested on the packaging. Install grow lights in the aquarium hood and leave them on for 10-12 hours a day. Use a timer to do this automatically.

    • 8

      Purchase your first fish. Make sure it is a hardy variety. Because this is not really an established tank, the new conditions can be too much of a shock on fragile fish.

    • 9

      Float the plastic fish bags on the surface of your water for fifteen minutes to acclimate the fish to the temperature of the water. Add a little bit of aquarium water to the bag every fifteen minutes for two hours. Then tip the fish into the tank. Try not to get much water from the bag into the tank as tank water from the pet shop might not be clean.

    • 10

      Add three or so fish every week because you want to introduce just a few at a time. In total, your tank can accommodate about 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. Also pick up some algae eating fish and bottom feeders to help take care of waste, though some of these are more sensitive to water conditions than fish.